Brad Layland | CEO, The FOCUS Group | Author of Turning Donors into Partners
Key Takeaways
- Leadership is ultimately a worship issue before it is a strategy issue.
- Every leader is tempted to find identity in success, influence, money, or approval.
- Good gifts become dangerous when they replace the Giver.
- The object of our worship ultimately shapes the quality of our leadership.
One of the themes God has been impressing on my heart lately is that leadership isn’t primarily about strategy, vision, or even character. Those things certainly matter, but underneath them lies something much deeper. At its core, leadership is a worship issue.
That realization came while reading through Hosea. One verse arrested my attention:
“They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.”
—Hosea 4:10–11 (ESV)
The more I reflected on those words, the more I realized that God’s indictment against Israel wasn’t simply about their behavior. Their outward actions were symptoms of a deeper problem. They had forsaken the Lord, and everything else flowed from that misplaced affection. Their worship had shifted, and eventually their lives followed.
I don’t find myself tempted to bow before carved idols, but I do recognize the temptation to place ultimate hope in things that are far more respectable. As a leader, it’s easy to believe that success will finally satisfy me, that another accomplishment will provide lasting significance, or that greater influence, financial security, or ministry growth will quiet the restlessness of my heart. None of those things is inherently wrong. In fact, they are all gifts from God. The danger begins when I expect those gifts to accomplish what only God Himself can do.
Augustine understood this struggle centuries ago when he wrote in Confessions, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” I’ve experienced that truth more times than I can count. I’ve celebrated goals that took years to accomplish, only to discover that the satisfaction faded surprisingly quickly. Before long, another goal appeared on the horizon, promising what the last one never delivered.
John Calvin famously described the human heart as “a perpetual factory of idols.” We have an incredible ability to take good things and quietly elevate them into ultimate things. Timothy Keller built on that idea in Counterfeit Gods, defining an idol as “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.”
Dr. Scott Rodin makes a similar observation in his book Enough, writing, “The root of our discontentment is our unacknowledged suspicion that God may not be enough.” That sentence has lingered with me because it exposes what is often happening beneath the surface of my own heart. Whenever I begin believing Christ alone is insufficient, I start creating what I think of as a “God plus” life: God plus success, God plus influence, God plus financial security, or God plus recognition. Those blessings slowly become necessities, and before long, they begin competing with the One who gave them.
That’s exactly what Hosea describes. Israel pursued one substitute after another, only to find themselves increasingly empty. They ate but were never satisfied. They sought abundance but experienced scarcity. The more they chased fulfillment apart from God, the further fulfillment slipped away. I don’t think human nature has changed very much.
I’ve become convinced that the greatest danger for leaders isn’t failure. It’s misplaced worship. The quality of my leadership will never rise above the object of my worship. If success becomes my god, success will eventually own me. If approval becomes my god, other people’s opinions will control me. If money becomes my god, I’ll never believe I have enough. Whatever sits at the center of my heart will inevitably shape the way I lead.
The opposite is also true. When Christ occupies His rightful place, everything else begins to find its proper place as well. Success becomes stewardship instead of identity. Influence becomes an opportunity to serve rather than a measure of significance. Money becomes a tool instead of a master. Leadership itself becomes an act of worship rather than an exercise in self-promotion.
Perhaps that’s one of Hosea’s greatest lessons. The deepest issue has never simply been our behavior. The issue is who we worship. Every leader is a worshiper. The only question is whether we’re worshiping the One who truly satisfies or pursuing counterfeit gods that continually promise more than they can deliver.
Lately, I’ve been asking myself a simple but searching question: What am I looking to for satisfaction besides God? Not what am I doing or what am I saying, but what am I quietly depending on to provide significance, security, or joy? Sometimes the answer is success. Sometimes it’s financial security. Sometimes it’s ministry itself. The particular idol may change, but the temptation remains the same.
That’s why I’ve begun trying to pause before the demands of each day begin. Before the meetings, before the emails, before the decisions, I want to remind myself of something my heart is quick to forget:
Jesus, You are enough.
If every goal is accomplished, You are enough. If every carefully constructed plan falls apart, You are enough. My identity isn’t rooted in what I build, achieve, or earn. It is rooted in being Your son.
That’s the kind of leader I want to become—not someone driven by restless ambition, but someone whose leadership flows from a heart that has found its deepest satisfaction in the worship of the one true God.
About the Author
Brad Layland is CEO of The FOCUS Group, a fundraising consulting firm serving more than 150 Christian ministries worldwide. He previously served as Chief Development Officer for Young Life and is the author of Turning Donors into Partners (InterVarsity Press), which debuted as the #1 new release in Philanthropy and Charity on Amazon.
Since acquiring The FOCUS Group in 2012, Brad has helped lead fundraising initiatives for organizations including Dallas Theological Seminary, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Union Rescue Mission, The Bowery Mission, and Veritas School. He holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Florida and an M.A. in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary.
Brad and his wife Wendy live in St. Augustine, Florida, and have four children.
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